Hello, world! This blog began on September 28, 2007, and so far nobody has come looking for me with tar and feathers.
On my honor, I will do my best not to bore you. All comments are welcome as long as your discourse is civil and your language is not blue.

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And whether my cup is half full or half empty, fill my cup, Lord.

Copyright 2007 - 2017 by Robert H.Brague

Monday, October 22, 2012

Since the final debate between Messrs. Romney and Obama occurs this evening and time is of the essence....

...let’s cut to the chase.

Dr. Barbara Bellar, a candidate for the Illinois State Senate, District 18, said the following:

”So let me get this straight.

”We’re going to be gifted with a healthcare plan we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don’t, which purportedly covers at least ten million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS* agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that didn’t read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a President who smokes, with funding administered by a Treasury Secretary who didn’t pay his taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese, and financed by a country that’s broke.

6 comments:

A Benedictine nun for five years, Bellar said " I believe we are here on earth to contribute to make it a better life for each other"... But clearly this did not include the bedraggled poor given her elitist attitude towards healthcare. She should have stuck to being a nun. Fingers crossed President Obama will again whup the Romney cartoon character in this evening's TV debate!

I admit that I haven't been following the election as closely as I would like for 'Mrs P in hosital' reasons, but I thought Mitt Romney had flip-flopped on healthcare after his Etch-a-Sketch make over. But for what it's worth, here are my thoughts on Dr Bellar's comments:

1) Doctor numbers - that ten million people represents about 3% of the population which most business would consider a conservative improved efficiency target.

2) New IRS agents - the tax system in the US is a mess. From what I saw, most Americans spend more time and energy on finding ways to avoid paying taxes than they do on making the money to be taxed. Rich folk like Mitt Romney (and Obama for all know) can afford the tax accountants, but the rest of you would improve your quality of life with a straight forward PAYE system.

3) Politicians who don't or won't understand and you're surprised?

4) A President who smokes and a Surgeon General who is obese - the point being what?

5) Taxed for four years before any benefits accrue - a very good idea and an area where the NHS went wrong. Without establishing a reserve you're always playing catch up. The real question is whether four years is long enough.

Mr Parrot makes some very good points.I find it hard to understand this opposition to Obama's Health Care scheme but willingly admit I haven't studied itin any depth. I only gather that medical care costs a criminal amount in the USA and the poor therefore cannot afford medical attention. That seems inhumane to me.cheers

lol We have health care and people still have no beds and die in corridorsThe rooms are not cleaned properlytools not disinfected properly doctors over worked and under paid and go more for clicking the card than spending time to heal you.Operations take years to wait for.and putting in new cheaper technology is hard to get once something is put into the systemNo one gives a hoot to your complaints. For me competition is better. Keeps prices low and businesses keep a tight ship doing a better job.

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About me

has lived on earth for 76 years and has been married for 54 of those years to Ellie, his wife. They have two sons, one daughter, the appropriate assortment of in-laws, and six absolutely magnificent grandchildren. He enjoys reading, playing the piano, driving in the country, sitting by the ocean, watching birds fly, gazing into a roaring fire, holding his wife's hand, and spending time with his grandchildren. He doesn't fancy doing yard work, walking a dog who definitely is not in the mood, or cleaning up after one who is (RIP Jethro, 2004-2013).

Me, circa 2010 (with Mrs. RWP)

A reader in Oregon has requested a current photograph. For the thick of skull, I want to say that I am not exceedingly tall nor is Mrs. RWP exceedingly short. She is sitting in a chair; I am standing behind her and slightly to her right, your left. I am nothing if not thorough. Handsome and thorough. Exceedingly intelligent, very handsome, and thorough. I forgot humble.

Me, circa 1943

A few months before this photograph was taken, I fell through a hole in a chain link fence in New York City and landed on my head on a school’s cement playground that was six feet below sidewalk level. I had a brain concussion. Some people think this helps explain why I am the way I am today. Other people insist nothing can explain why I am the way I am today.

Poem by a Yorkshire Lad

Song for Lost Youth

Perhaps I should have cradled it
Like a dove
Kept it safe with tender love
But I squandered it -
Gushing-blundering-raging
Like a wild mountain stream
Desperate for an ocean
That was but a distant dream.
...I just never thought
That I could have loitered in the shallows
Reflecting the blueness of the sky
- Concealing silver fishes
- Quietly biding my time
- Stretching it out.
And so, and so it's gone now
- My ephemeral youth
- That precious once only gift
- That honeyed sweetness,
Leaving only the trembling resonance
Of distant echoes
From half-remembered hills.